List of lost television broadcasts

The list of lost television broadcasts is composed of mostly early television programs and series that for various reasons cannot be accounted for in personal collections or studio archives.

Reasons of loss

A significant amount of early television programming is not lost but rather was never recorded in the first place. Early broadcasting in all genres was live, sometimes performed repeatedly, because there was no means to record the broadcast or because content itself was reasoned to have little monetary or historical value. In the United Kingdom, much early programming was lost due to contractual demands by the actors' union to limit the rescreening of recorded performances.

Apart from Phonovision experiments by John Logie Baird, and some 280 rolls of 35mm film containing a number of Paul Nipkow television station broadcastings, no recording of transmissions from 1939 or earlier are known to exist.

In 1947, Kinescope films became a viable method of recording broadcasts, but programs were only sporadically filmed or preserved. Tele-snaps of British television broadcasts also began in 1947 but are necessarily incomplete. Magnetic videotape technologies became a viable method to record and distribute material in 1956. Televised programming was still considered disposable, however, and what was recorded was routinely destroyed by wiping and reusing the tapes, until the rise of the home video industry in the late 1970s.

Significant lost broadcasts

Australia

• This practice of reusing videotape continued well into the 1970s: Many episodes of the pioneering Australian prime time soap opera Number 96 are lost.

Europe

• The 1st edition ever of the Eurovision Song Contest of 1956 was broadcast live and never recorded, and only a sound recording of the radio transmission has survived from the original broadcast. The 9th edition of 1964 was indeed recorded on tape, but fire destroyed the copy, and it's unknown if any other TV station in Europe has another copy. Only small portions of the original broadcast and audio from the radio transmission have survived.

United Kingdom

• Lost forever are early BBC-created programs from the 1940s like Telecrimes, Pinwright's Progress, The Disorderly Room, Sports Review, Theatre Parade, and the play Wasp's Nest. The only visual evidence of these programmes today consists of still photographs.
• All recordings of the early televised Francis Durbridge serials from 1952 to 1959 were completely destroyed, and the first two (Broken Horseshoe and Operation Diplomat) were never recorded.
• Four of the six episodes of The Quatermass Experiment, Britain's first science fiction television programme aimed at an adult audience, were never recorded; the two existing episodes are the oldest BBC recordings of any fictional series today.
• The Madhouse on Castle Street, a 1963 BBC teleplay starring a then-unknown Bob Dylan, is considered lost. It was erased in 1968, and despite attempts by the British Film Institute to recover it, a telerecorded copy has still not been found as of 2009^[update].
• Many early music programs, such as Ready Steady Go and (until the mid-1970s, most episodes of) Top of the Pops are lost, so many significant television appearances—such as The Beatles' last live television performance in 1966, and most appearances of Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett—are unavailable.
• 106 black and white episodes of the cult BBC sci-fi show Doctor Who, particularly from the tenures of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton (the first two Doctors), do not exist in the BBC's archives, though they have an ongoing appeal for help from viewers who may have recorded the shows during their original airings. Audio recordings exist for all of the lost episodes, however, all of which have been released commercially by the BBC; two episodes of the serial The Invasion (which survive only in audio form) were reconstructed using animation for the serial's DVD release in 2006.^[1] The BBC also holds many extant clips from the lost episodes ranging from such sources as an 8 mm camera, censored clips physically cut from the episodes, insert shots, and clips shown on 1960s and 1970s programmes (most notably Blue Peter).
• The BBC wiped many editions of Not Only... But Also, starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore from its archives in the late 1960s and early 1970s, as it did with many other programmes. Cook and Moore had even allegedly offered to pay for the cost of preservation and buy new videotapes so that the old tapes would not need to be reused, but this offer was rejected.^[2] Some telerecordings of the black and white episodes survive, but all of the videotaped footage from the colour series was wiped, so that the only surviving colour sketches are on 16mm film inserts.
• Many other BBC shows are missing from the archives, including the BBC studio footage from the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landings. Many series, such as football-themed soap opera United!, are missing in their entirety, while others only survive in fragments such as A for Andromeda, a science fiction series that was Julie Christie's first major role. Also missing are episodes of Dad's Army, Hancock's Half Hour, Doomwatch, Out of the Unknown, Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars, and many others. In an interview in the 2009 documentary Monty Python: Almost the Truth, Terry Gilliam claims to have purchased all of the Monty Python's Flying Circus tapes from the BBC when he was informed that they were about to be wiped.
• Most of the archives of two ITV contractors Associated British Corporation (ABC) and Associated-Rediffusion were destroyed in the 1970s after they were merged to become Thames Television. Associated-Rediffusion's archive suffered considerably more damage than Associated British Corporation's, leaving little of No Hiding Place, The Rat Catchers, and other programmes. Almost all of the entire first series of The Avengers was erased shortly after transmission.
• The original black-and-white recording of the premiere episode of the British series Upstairs, Downstairs(1970-1975) does not exist in any form with the possible exception of a few stills and the location footage which features at the start of the shot-in-color rerecording of the premiere episode. The original recording took place on November 13, 1970, and was in monochrome owing to a dispute with studio technicians, who refused to work with colour recording equipment as part of a work to rule. The following five episodes were also recorded in monochrome before the dispute ended with the recording of episode 6 in color on February 12, 1971. After the entire thirteen-episode season run had been recorded, it was decided to rerecord the first episode in color to gain the highest possible audience for its first UK transmission and to help with overseas sales. The rerecording took place on May 21, 1971, and the series' UK debut was on October 10, 1971.^[3] The original monochrome recording was never transmitted and was wiped. All of the other five black-and-white episodes from series one survive.
• Most editions of the controversial and anarchic British children's Saturday morning television series Tiswas were transmitted live without any official recording and many of the original master tapes of such editions as did get recorded by the broadcaster were wiped or left to deteriorate after the series was canceled in 1982. When a series of Tiswas highlight compilation tapes was released on video in the early 1990s (followed in 2006 by a DVD), much of the footage appeared to have been culled from the off-air recordings of private archivists.

United States

• The debut broadcast of The Ed Sullivan Show (then called Toast of the Town) from June 20, 1948, is considered lost. The episode featured the first television appearance of the comedy act of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
• Nearly the entire film archive of the DuMont Network, consisting of episodes from around 200 television series are missing, presumed destroyed. A few kinescope episodes of DuMont series survive at the UCLA Film and Television Archive, the Paley Center for Media in New York, or Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications. However, in 1996, early television actress Edie Adams testified at a hearing in front of a panel of the Library of Congress on the preservation of American television and video, that little value was given to the DuMont film archive by the 1970s, and that all the remaining kinescoped episodes of DuMont series were loaded into three trucks and dumped into Upper New York Bay.^[4] See List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts for more info.
• None of the episodes of the 1954-55 The Vampira Show, the first television horror movie show, were ever preserved.
• The 1957 CBS production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella starring Julie Andrews was believed to be lost for years. It was rediscovered in the late 1990s, but only in black-and-white kinescope; the original color broadcast has been lost.
• Almost all of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jack Paar and the first ten years (1962–1972) hosted by Johnny Carson were taped over by the network and no longer exist. This is why Carson's Tonight Show picture looked muddy during broadcast in the late 1960s—the videotape was being used repeatedly. A single episode from Carson's first year turned up in a closet a few years ago. Selected sequences from the 1962–1972 era do survive and were often replayed by Carson himself (particularly in the months preceding his retirement in 1992) and have been released to home video. Some Paar episodes also survive and have been released to DVD.
• As of 2011, 1968's Super Bowl II is the only Super Bowl without any surviving telecast recording. A nearly complete color tape of Super Bowl I was discovered in 2005, but kept secret for nearly five years; portions of telecasts up through Super Bowl V are either missing or only exist in black-and-white. NFL Films, the league's official filmmaker, produced their own copies (at a higher quality than a live television broadcast could produce at the time) of the games for posterity.
• With home VCRs being uncommon until the mid 1980s, it is unlikely that lost television episodes exist in the collections of individuals, though this occasionally happens. One well-known example is a clip of John Lennon visiting the announcers' booth during a 1974 Monday Night Football broadcast. ABC lost the footage of this event, but a private collector's copy of the event appears in the Beatles Anthology
• Another such example occurred with the Sergio Leone film A Fistful of Dollars. When it was originally broadcast in the United States in 1975, an alternate opening was shot to meet the standards and practices guidelines of the network. This opening was subsequently lost by the network, but had been taped by a fan of the film and was placed on the special edition DVD.
• Most US daytime soap opera episodes broadcast before 1978 have been lost. The status of episodes, however, varies widely from show to show:
  • Soaps produced by Procter & Gamble Productions, including Search for Tomorrow, Guiding Light, As the World Turns, The Edge of Night, and Another World began preserving their episodes in 1978. A few scattered episodes, mostly black and white kinescopes, of these series exist from the 1950s, 1960s, and early-to-mid 1970s. The CBS soaps Love of Life and The Secret Storm, as well as several short-lived shows, suffered the same fate.
  • ABC's One Life to Live and All My Children were originally owned by their creator, Agnes Nixon, who chose to archive all episodes. However, early episodes of AMC were saved as black-and-white kinescopes despite being produced and telecast in color. ABC purchased the shows in late 1974; different sources report that Nixon's archive was either lost in a fire or erased. A few black and white kinescopes of both series' early years exist, as well as a few color episodes. ABC began full archiving of these soaps at Nixon's insistence when they expanded from 30 minutes to an hour—AMC in 1977, and OLTL in 1978.
  • Most 1963–1970 episodes of ABC's General Hospital survive because the series was then owned by Selmur Productions. Few episodes from 1970 to 1977 were saved. Dark Shadows, which ran from 1966 to 1971 and was produced by Dan Curtis Productions, exists in its entirety except for one episode, for which an audio recording exists. Ryan's Hope premiered in 1975, several years before ABC began saving all of its daytime programming, but exists in its entirety as it was originally owned by Labine-Mayer Productions.
  • Two long-running soaps have full archives: Days of our Lives, which premiered in 1965, and The Young and the Restless, which premiered in 1973. Both series were originally distributed by Screen Gems.
• The original slow-scan TV footage of the first manned moon landing in 1969—believed to be of significantly higher quality than the standards-converted version broadcast on TV—is missing from NASA's archives.^[5][6] This, among other things, has led to all manner of conspiracy theories about the landings, though both NASA and non-NASA authorities have repeatedly debunked any claims of foul play.
• Almost all daytime game shows from the 1970s and prior have been destroyed. CBS's archives begin in 1972, ABC's in 1978, and NBC's in 1982. A handful of producers (most notably Goodson-Todman) did arrange for the preservation of their shows for reruns even during the tape-recycling period.
  • The entire original 1964–1975 version of the game show Jeopardy! is said to be lost, although 24 episodes are known to exist; this is from a grand total of 2,753.
  • Approx. 130 episodes exist of the 1966-1981 version of The Hollywood Squares and were broadcast on the Game Show Network; NBC allegedly destroyed the remainder of the missing episodes when it was announced that GSN acquired the rights to the Squares episodes.
  • The game show Snap Judgment (NBC, 1967 to 1969) is completely destroyed.
  • The game show The Big Showdown (ABC, 1974 to 1975) has only one and a half episodes remaining, out of 140 total.
  • The game show Second Chance (ABC, 1977) has no episodes remaining except for Pilot #3.
  • The game show High Rollers (NBC and syndication, 1974–1976 and 1978–1980) has only twelve episodes remaining; two from the first run and ten from the second, including the finale.
  • The game show Winning Streak (NBC, 1974) has only two episodes remaining, plus the opening portion of a third.
  • The game show Eye Guess (NBC, 1966 to 1969) has only one and a half episodes remaining.
  • The nighttime version of The Price Is Right (syndication, 1972 to 1980) has not, as far as it is known, been destroyed, but has remained locked and mostly unseen in CBS's archives since their original airings, due to a dispute with former executive producer and host Bob Barker. This includes the entire hosting span of Dennis James (hosted from 1972-77). Five episodes (one heavily edited) are known to have survived outside the archives; many others circulate on home audiotape.

Select list of TV programs with missing episodes

• The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990) - The first version of the episode "Kootie Pie Rocks", featuring Milli Vanilli and two Milli Vanilli songs has been apparently taped over for the second, edited version without the Mill Vanilli songs, which appeared in all later syndication plays and DVD releases. A few copies, videotapes made by viewers, can be found online.
• The Adventures of Twizzle (1957) - Every episode of the series recorded except for the first episode "Twizzle & Footso" are believed to have been lost forever
• The Avengers - All but two episodes of 1961–62 season are lost.
• Baffle - Only 3 out of 100 episodes still exist
• Barley Charlie - Only 3 of the 13 episodes produced survive.
• Beulah (1950–1953) - Only 7 episodes have survived.
• Camel News Caravan (1948–1956) - An early news program, most episodes are believed to be lost.
• Captain Video (1949–1955) - Almost entire run destroyed after the DuMont Television Network ceased to exist.
• Cavalcade of Stars - Popular variety series; dozens of episodes were destroyed in the 1970s.
• Countdown - Numerous episodes erased by ABC.
• Crossroads (1964–1988) - More than 80 percent of Associated TeleVision's run was wiped or otherwise lost, although Central Television's run is intact.
• Doctor Who - 106 episodes of this series are missing. See Doctor Who missing episodes.
• Dollar a Second (1953–1957) - Only two episodes have survived.
• Doorway to Fame (1947–1949) - One of the first "talent shows" aired on United States television, Only two episodes survive.
• DuMont Evening News (1954–1955) - No episodes known to survive.
• Family Affairs (1949–1950) - Nothing remains of the first^[7] family-centred sitcom as none of the six episodes were ever recorded by the BBC.
• Faraway Hill (1946) - No footage, stills, or scripts survive from this program, which was the first soap opera aired on American television.
• Gambit (1972–1976)-More than 1,000 episodes appear to be lost.
• The Goldbergs (1949–1956) - Only the last two seasons survive intact, with the CBS and NBC runs being largely lost.
• The Grove Family (1954–1957) - Very little of the UK's first soap opera remains today in the BBC archives.
• Hour Glass (1946–1947) - No footage remains of television's first variety show.
• In Melbourne Tonight (1957–1970) - Hundreds of episodes no longer exist.
• It's Alec Templeton Time (1955) - One of the last DuMont series. Though Alec Templeton was a celebrity of some note, no episodes exist of the televised version of his program.
• Jul og Grønne Skove (1980) - One of the later examples of lost TV shows, this was a Christmas calendar originally broadcast on Danish television by DR. Half of the 24 episodes were wiped some time in the mid-80's, as were many of DR's productions made prior to 1987, where DR made an agreement with "Statens Mediesamling" to archive all future productions
• Mama (1949–1957) - The vast majority of the episodes produced of this series no longer exist.
• Mary Kay and Johnny (1947–1950) - Almost completely destroyed. The show was originally broadcast live and not recorded, but began using kinescopes in 1948. Many episodes from the latter period still existed as late as 1975, but only one complete 1949 episode (in the Paley Media Collection; see their web catalogue) and a few seconds from the show's last few episodes still exist today.
• The Match Game (1962–1969) - Only around 11 episodes survive out of the 1752 episodes produced.
• Mindreaders (1979–1980) - Only around two episodes are known to survive, even though wiping had been largely phased-out by the "Big 3" United States networks at the time.
• Newsweek Views the News (1948–1950) - A prime-time public-affairs program featuring editors of Newsweek magazine discussing current events; only two episodes survive.
• Number 96 (TV series) - Most of the black and white episodes were taped over by the Ten Network.
• Opera Cameos (1953–1955) - One of several "cultural" programs aired by the DuMont Television Network as counter-programming, Only eight episodes survive of the 50+ episodes produced.
• The Pinky Lee Show (1954–1955) - Few episodes of this critically acclaimed TV series have survived.
• Pinwright's Progress (1946–1947) Aired live and never recorded, only still photographs remain of the world's first situation comedy.
• Puttnam's Prairie Emporium (1988–1990) The master tapes were reportedly wiped by CKCK-TV in the early 90s. A single episode (an outtakes and bloopers special), and a few minutes from one other are known to survive.
• Queen for a Day (1956–1964) - Almost every episode of this popular TV series was destroyed.
• Rocky King, Inside Detective (1950–1955) - Original negatives were dumped into upper New York Bay in the 1970s.
• School House (1949) - Only one episode has survived from early 1949 of this DuMont show, featuring Wally Cox (flubbing his lines in a live DuMont TV set commercial) and Arnold Stang with musical performances set in a high school classroom.
• Sara and Hoppity (1962-1963) - The master tapes are believed to have all been lost or destroyed. The pilot version of the first episode "Sara & Hoppity" was discovered in a 16mm print along with the 16mm film reels of all 39 episodes of Space Patrol in possession of Roberta Leigh in the late 90's. One other episode is known to have been found, while only 1 minute of silent footage from another was found.
• Search for Tomorrow (1951–1982)- Because CBS wiped it, thousands of episodes no longer exist.
• Sense and Nonsense (Circa 1954) - Only one episode survives of this WABD series.
• Sesame Street (1969-present) - An episode titled "Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce" was produced in 1992, but was shelved by most broadcasters and producers once test audiences to the program were not able to understand the concept of divorce. The episode was produced during the show's 23rd Season (1991-1992).
• Sixpenny Corner (1955–1956) - The only soap opera ever made by Associated-Rediffusion, and the first British serial to be broadcast on a non-BBC channel is believed to have been completely destroyed.
• Snap Judgment (1967–1969) - A game show believed to be completely wiped from the NBC archives.
• Starlight (1936–1949) - The first ever variety show transmitted anywhere in the world, and the BBC's first ever programme. The BBC did not have access to means of recording until late 1949, so no footage is known to exist of this show today.
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson - Almost all 1962-1972 episodes were erased by NBC.
• The Trouble with Tracy (1970–1971) - Rumored to have been almost completely destroyed.
• Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (1984–present) - The Season 2 premiere, "The Missing Coach", was filmed, but then replaced with "Thomas, Percy & The Coal". Britt Allcroft said that the plot would be too hard for kids to comprehend. Several production stills, though, still exist in several books.
• Young Talent Time - Almost all early episodes were erased by the Ten Network.
• Z-Cars (1962–1978) - Half of the episodes of this popular police television series are still missing, although many episodes once believed to be lost were recovered on 16mm film.
• Various CNN broadcasts (1980-Today) - Although CNN does keep extensive footage and news coverage, copies of programming with original presenter links (i.e. the newsreader) are rarely kept see section 3 part B

Recovery efforts

The public appeal campaign the BBC Archive Treasure Hunt continues to search for lost BBC productions.

See also

• Lost film
• Wiping
• List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts

References

External links

• The Museum of Television and Radio: "Lost" programs